Dan Karpiel
The Surveyor

The proverbial saying about the game of golf is that it is largely played in the six-inch space between one’s ears. For the Berthoud High School girls golf team, that is a lesson they have been learning in the early throes of the 2016 season. The snow and cold weather have cost the Lady Spartans practice time and, when they have been able to practice and play, the team has had to deal with gusty winds and cold temperatures that made an already challenging sport even more difficult.

“I think not being able to practice as much as we would like because of the weather has hampered us a bit,” said Head Coach Mary Durkin. “But they’ve realized that they have to play through it, they know they just have to get out and play, play their game, don’t worry about anyone else or weather and just focus on playing your game.”

As a team, Berthoud took 10th place in the 16-team Birleffi Invitational at Boomerang Golf Course in Greeley on April 7 and finished eighth at the R2J Tournament at Mariana Butte on April 11.

Durkin explained her team did not quite meet the expectations they had playing at Mariana Butte, which serves as the Lady Spartans home course, saying, “I think [our expectations were] not met because it’s our home course, we had some ups and downs out there today.”

Yet there was plenty good to be found for Berthoud. Junior Molli Boruff, who qualified for state last season, shot an 89 (44-45), while Kyra McDonald’s 92 (42-50) was her personal best. “Kyra shot 92 today and that was her personal best, and we were really pleased with that,” Durkin said. At Mariana, Mikaela Matzen shot a 117 (64-53), Shannyn McEntee 120 (60-60) and Alex Ryan a 121 (56-65).

Boruff explained she was somewhat disappointed with her 89 at Mariana Butte, saying, “Today I didn’t play like I would have wanted to … I just feel like mentally I wasn’t in the spot I should have been and my putts weren’t where they should have been either. I just need to work on my stroke, I need to work on just going straight back and straight through.”

Despite the less-than-desired score at the R2J Invite, Boruff shot a personal-best 80 at Boomerang to take third place at the Birleffi Invite and explained her new set of clubs, Mizuno irons and Ping hybrids, have improved her game markedly. “They are working so much better than my old clubs. They’re a stiffer staff so they help me hit the ball straighter and I am a lot more consistent with them.”

Durkin explained now that weather has begun to resemble spring more than winter, the team is starting to make adjustments and she is seeing noticeable improvement from each of her players.

“We switched our number two with our number three; Kyra moved to number two and Mikaela moved to number three … with Kyra moving up has given us some positive movement. Alex Ryan hit her personal best last week [116 at Birleffi] so I think we’re trending in the right direction.”

Berthoud will compete at the Mad Russian in Milliken on April 18 and a week later at Pelican Lakes in Windsor.